American Cinematographer - November 1987 - 47

bring in rescue at its immediate conclusion, the true
depth of the gesture is weakened, if not lost.
We
are in
danger, in other words, of being quite 'movie'
and artificial unless we plug the gap very securely."
Unfortunately, the final version of
the film did eliminate the rapids sequence and instead
had food carried from boats by the tardily-arriving
..

British.

The exterior

scenes

at Crown Point

occupied the final days
diers

on location. The British sol¬
selected from the Idaho State Militia and

were

their red coats,

along with the Rangers' green buck¬
impressive sight against the massive
gray fort structure by the cool blue lake and sky.
Fortunately, the weather held for
the entire shoot; the only rain was on the first day of
filming. In fact, rain had to be manufactured for one
skins, made

There

scene.

was an

outbreak of tick fever,

disease

often fatal to humans and animals, but cast and crew
were inoculated and
managed to escape serious infec¬
tion. Clothes

piled in the center of a large sheet
day so that any ticks could be seen as
they crawled across the whiteness of the sheet.
The company started filming the
Portsmouth prologue and all the interiors back at
MGM shortly afterwards. Ruth Hussey was cast as
"Elizabeth" and Laraine Day was still listed for the
at the

were

end of the

role of "Ann"

both taken from historical characters.

Indeed, of the

principal characters only the roles por¬
trayed by Robert Young and Walter Brennan were
ficticious. In addition to Rogers, General Amherst
(Lumsden Hare), Sir William Johnson (Frederick Worlock), Elizabeth's father (Louis Hector), and some
members of the

Rangers

were

all based

actual

peo¬

ple.
The "human chain" sequence,

started

the

Payette River and then abandoned be¬
cause of the dangers to cast members, was re-sched¬
uled in Lot 3's exterior tank. Special effects expert
Arnold Gillespie converted the body of water into a
on

river with

small island in the center. This island

represented the other side of the Payette River and
both banks
marine

were

matched to the location. A series of

engines and propellers churned the water to

simulate

physically, that would be the only thing I could do,
and as I certainly am mentally, it seems the only alter¬
native which holds some hope. That may not solve it,
but the fact remains that the problem is there and, at
the moment, I am at a total loss as to just how to work

driving rapids. Although the cast, including
Tracy, Young, and Brennan, worked in over five feet of
water, if anyone was forced from the chain by the
strength of the current he traveled only a short dis¬
tance where the depth suddenly slanted up to a shal¬
low two feet. Extensively covered, this action was
intercut with the few shots made at the Payette River
to good effect.
After returning from Idaho, all still
was not well with
Spencer Tracy. In a particularly
eloquent and moving letter to Eddie Mannix on
August 24, the day following the tank filming, the
complex and troubled Tracy said in part:
"... The problem seems to be the
culmination of many things, and it seems to me that
the only thing to do is to get away for an indefinite

please believe that,
quarrel with the studio or
with anything they have done in my regard. I hope I
appreciate that without Metro and the help I received
here, Heaven only knows where I would be now
"Louise [Tracy's wife] has gone
through trying periods with me, and is going through
probably the most trying now, and feels as I do.
"I feel that perhaps, in the future, if
an
arrangement could be made whereby I could do a
picture, then have a definite vacation period, the
mental stress I subject myself to, or inflict upon my¬
self, during the making of a picture would be lessened
with the knowledge that, when I finished, I might

period upon the completion of this picture. If I

relax. I say

November 1987

were

ill

it out.

"At the outset,

sense,

is there any

American

might.

Cinematographer

American Cinematographer - November 1987

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